Your customer asks for environmental certification, but what exactly does this mean and what good is it for you? Do you want to make your company more sustainable, but you are not sure where to start? Soon we will be travelling abroad to tell you everything about MPS-ABC environmental certification. At this moment, MPS travels through the Netherlands and provides information sessions about what MPS-ABC environmental certification entails.
Raymond Scheepens tells more about MPS-ABC environmental certification during one of the information sessions.
The first information session has now taken place Waterdrinker B.V. in Aalsmeer, the Netherlands. Due to great interest, an information session took place today at two locations, at Groen-Direkt and Plantarium in Hazerswoude-Dorp. At a safe distance from each other, visitors could obtain information about MPS-ABC and the developments in the market. The new record-keeping environment was also demonstrated.
Good reputation
Raymond Scheepens, our Area Manager, was also a guest at Plantarium Digital Expo yesterday to talk about environmental certification. It is clear that growers will soon no longer be able to ignore environmental certification. Royal FloraHolland makes environmental certification mandatory from 1 January 2021. With MPS-ABC, the requirements of Royal FloraHolland are met, as well as those of the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative. But why do these parties actually make environmental certification mandatory? “More and more buyers and consumers consider sustainability important. Together we must ensure a good reputation for our product and make the world greener step by step,” Scheepens said during Plantarium Digital Expo.
Environmental certification also ensures that you can make your sustainability efforts transparent and measurable. Scheepens: “Within MPS-ABC, growers with the same product that is grown under the same production conditions are compared with each other. Based on this, the grower receives a score: A +, A, B or C, where A + is the most sustainable.”
The Plantarium Digital Expo also discussed the obstacles growers feel to start with environmental certification: complexity of environmental certification and the time it takes. Scheepens: “I can indicate that for an average company it takes about an hour per month. With regard to the complexity: we visit you to explain everything during a start-up meeting and we will not leave before you can start working independently. ”
On tour
“We are currently on tour through the Netherlands to inform growers about MPS-ABC environmental certification. We have already ticked several places. Soon we will start with information sessions abroad. It was nice to notice during the first sessions that people realize that the world is changing and that sustainability is no longer something they can ignore. ”
Over 30 years ago, my journey at MPS began after I saw an advertisement in the newspaper. After the birth of my daughter, I was looking to return to work and joined the data entry department. At the time, all data was still entered manually from paper forms. Since then, I have seen the organisation grow and change, and I have grown along with it.Today, I work in the Service & Support department. No two days are the same: one day I help a customer with questions about record-keeping, the next I help them understand requirements from the auction or the UO. It is precisely this variety and the personal contact with customers that make my work interesting every day.
In 2008, I joined MPS through a recruitment agency as a secretary. I then held various positions within MPS and MPS-ECAS, including roles in the Service & Support team and as a planner. In 2018, I left the organisation for a while, but in 2023 I returned to MPS-ECAS as a back-office employee. The people are simply too much fun and the world of ornamental horticulture is so innovative that it kept drawing me back. Shortly afterwards, I started working at MPS as Coordinator Netherlands.
During the final year of my Environmental Sciences degree, I joined MPS for an internship. The internship worked out so well for both sides that I was able to stay afterwards. It felt like a natural next step, because I immediately felt at home here and was given the opportunity to continue developing myself.My work is very varied. I work on different projects and products, carry out research and analyses and contribute to practical solutions. I also manage various systems, support customers with complex technical questions and work with external parties. It is precisely this combination that makes my work interesting and ensures that no two weeks are the same.
I first joined MPS through a friend who worked in MPS’s student team. I continued working here while studying Commercial Economics, and at the end of my studies, in 2004, MPS asked if I wanted to join the organisation permanently. It seemed like a great opportunity, and more than twenty years later, I am still here.No two days are the same, and that is exactly what makes my work so enjoyable. A large part of my week consists of project meetings and translating needs from within the organisation into practical solutions. Thursday afternoon is a regular fixture, which I set aside with a colleague to make MPS 1% better every week. For example, we experiment with AI, build prototypes, improve processes or develop new ideas. The goal is always to work smarter and create more value for colleagues, customers and the organisation.